President Obama participated in this year's National Geographic Bee to to "celebrate the important role that geography plays in all our lives." During that event he made a statement that I think geographers should use more. Go to 0:45-1:10 in the video clip to hear this message or see the transcript below.

"The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on a map. It's about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it's about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together."

This is a great step for America. Nothing better than the President of the United States pushing for Geography and Geography Education. President Obama tells us what geography really is about, "It's about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents." This is something that every student should know because without appreciating diversity and culture, how can one truly be American, a land where diversity is its heritage.

"How do you get Google to visit your small, remote island group with its Street View vehicles, and digitize your roads for the benefit of locals and tourists alike? If you are the Faroe Islands, then you exploit your local resources to roll your own Street View, in the hopes of attracting Google's attention. Behold: Sheep View 360, a solar-powered 360-degree camera, mounted on a sheep's back. Sheep View takes advantage of one great Street View feature: You can upload your own images to Google's service. So Durita Dahl Andreassen, working for the tourist site Visit Faroe Islands, decided to kick-start the Faroe Islands' entry by putting the camera on a sheep and letting it wander free, then uploading the photos."

Seth Dixon's insight:

I think this is my favorite mapping story of the year...I'm sharing this just because I can. Google wouldn't originally bring its Street View-recording cars to the islands (part of Denmark), so a solar-powered, ovine-mounted camera was put to work. Fact can be stranger than fiction.

"Have you ever felt so stressed out or anxious that you just want to open your window and scream at the top of your lungs?

Well, students in Flogsta, a residential area in the Swedish university town of Uppsala, do just that when the exam pressure gets too overwhelming. Every night at 10pm Swedish students open their windows and scream for several minutes."

Seth Dixon's insight:

This is an strange a cultural trait as anything you'll ever see and it is delightfully enjoyable. Like so many great traditions, no one knows exactly how or when this phenomenon started.

Questions to Ponder: How does this activity diffuse in Flogsta at night? How did this activity diffuse to other college towns in Europe? Why is this a thing?

It took 200,000 years for our human population to reach 1 billion—and only 200 years to reach 7 billion. But growth has begun slowing, as women have fewer babies on average. When will our global population peak? And how can we minimize our impact on Earth’s resources, even as we approach 11 billion?

Seth Dixon's insight:

As stated in a Vox article, "The video above, from the American Museum of Natural History, shows essentially all of human history in just six minutes. It shows humanity spreading across the world over a few hundred thousand years — even as our population remained under 1 million. After that came the rise and fall of many empires and civilizations, plagues, wars, and so on — all the way to our current population of around 7 billion." Admittedly, the video is a bit "slow" in the middle, but that is a major part of the story of human population growth, and only serves to show how dramatic the population growth is at the end. This video brings up more questions than it has answers.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to create an interactive map with Visme, a free online infographic and presentation tool.

Seth Dixon's insight:

If you have students use Piktochart to create infographics, then this is a new tool that you should consider. In addition to creating infographics, this allows users to create and embed interactive maps in those infographics. This is a both a baby-step into the world of GIS as well as a way to create student projects that are richly informative.

In Cameroon, unrest in minority English-speaking regions over discrimination by majority French speakers is still simmering after violent clashes with police claimed at least four lives.

English-speakers have been protesting since Monday (11/21/2016) against what they see as their "second-class citizen status" and attempts to marginalize them in the west African nation. Eight of Cameroon's ten regions are largely Francophone, but two regions, North West and South West Cameroon are English-speaking. English-speaking teachers complain that French-speaking counterparts are being increasingly deployed in English schools, despite differences in the curricula and teaching systems.

Can you tell what’s wrong with this map of the United States? I’ll give you a hint: Look near the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Spot the problem yet? A further hint: Look at the border of Wisconsin and Illinois as well as the Florida Panhandle. See it now? The Wisconsin-Illinois border is slightly more southern and the Florida Panhandle is slightly shorter.

Seth Dixon's insight:

This mapping application is my favorite discovery after the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. The election was obviously very contentious and incredibly close, both in regard to the popular vote as well as the Electoral College. Using this mapping application, you can re-divide the states of the union by shifting the counties around. Using the voting patterns based on the county-level data, you can see how your proposed divisions would have impacted the 2016 presidential election.

There have been many plans on how to divide the 50 states into various regional configurations (50 states of equal population, regions of economic interactions, cultural regions, and the Nine Nations of America), and this is another iteration of that age-old theme. While this isn’t an activity in gerrymandering in the strictest sense (this is not reapportioning within the state based on population change but between states), it shows just how gerrymandering works. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency, but you could make it a landslide (in either direction) if you manipulate the current state borders. The highest electoral vote I could engineer for Donald Trump was 407, and the highest electoral total I could manufacture for Hillary Clinton was 402. The point of this is to show that the balance within and among states can be far more delicate than we might presume. Just a line here or a line there can dramatically alter the balance of power.

Activity #1: Try to make this a landslide victory for the Republican Party. How many electoral votes could you garner for the Republicans? Add a screenshot.

Activity #2: Try to make this a landslide victory for the Democratic Party. How many electoral votes could you garner for the Democrats? Add a screenshot.

Activity #3: Try to tip the election to the Democrats with the most subtle, minor changes that might go under the radar. Explain your changes to the state map. Add a screenshot.

Some 100 people are arrested after protests against using French in Cameroon's English-speaking region.

Areas controlled by Britain and France joined to form Cameroon after the colonial powers withdrew in the 1960s. The country has 10 semi-autonomous administrative regions - eight are Francophone and use the French civil law. English-speakers have long complained that they face discrimination. They often complain that they are excluded from top civil service jobs and that government documents are often only published in French, even though English is also an official language. Bamenda is the founding place of Cameroon's largest opposition political party, the Social Democratic Front.

A decade ago, a tornado wiped out the small town of Greensburg, Kansas. But the town decided to rebuild—as a totally green community. Ten years out, has the green rebuilding program been successful, and is this a model that might be used by other towns? Or is going green harder than it seems?

Seth Dixon's insight:

If you haven't discovered the podcast "Placemakers" you are missing out. The entire series centers around the challenges that confront different types of communities and the opportunities to improve the way things work. They present "stories about the spaces we inhabit and the people who shape them. Join us as we crisscross the country, introducing you to real people in real communities—people who make a difference in how we travel, work, and live. You’ll never look at your community the same way again." And yes, that sounds like a whole lot of applied geography to me.

"In its day, the spice trade was the world’s biggest industry. It established and destroyed empires and helped the Europeans (who were looking for alternate routes to the east) map the globe through their discovery of new continents. What was once tightly controlled by the Arabs for centuries was now available throughout Europe with the establishment of the Ocean Spice Trade route connecting Europe directly to South Asia (India) and South East Asia."

Seth Dixon's insight:

The spice trade changed how we eat forever but it did so much more. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire cut off Europe from the vital trade routes to the east and access to the most prized commodities of the day. What drove European exploration to get around Africa and to cross the Atlantic? It was to reshape their situation location relative to the economic networks that shaped the emerging global economy. In essence, the spice trade reshaped the fortunes and trajectories of several major world regions.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit New Zealand’s South Island lifted up the seabed by two metres, pushing it above the ocean’s surface.

Seth Dixon's insight:

Plates on the Earth's crust typically move forward at very slowly (about the same speed as the fingernail growth). While that is the usual, plates snag along the edges and pressure can build over the years, only to lead to explosive, quick changes like happened recently in New Zealand. This complex series of tremors has people disconnected as much of the physical infrastructure has be damaged.

agree that the District should be admitted to the Union as the State of New Columbia

approve of a Constitution of the State of New Columbia to be adopted by the Council

approve the State of New Columbia's boundaries

agree that the State of New Columbia shall guarantee an elected representative form of government.

Seth Dixon's insight:

Questions to Ponder: Why do the residents of the District of Columbia want to change the legal status of the District to a state? Why might some states and politicians NOT want to see a 51st state? What is needed in the United States to admit a new state (Puerto Rico is still a possibility to become the 51st state)?

A map produced by real estate website Estately found the weirdest town name for every state in America, including Booger Hole, WV, and Old Roach, CO.

Seth Dixon's insight:

I know, I know. You have a better name that should be on this map of strange toponyms. Having driven MANY times from San Diego to Utah, I'm kind of partial to Zzyzx, CA...just because. What's you favorite toponym? What value is there is having a strange name for a town? How does a place name contribute to the local sense of place?

I'm not trying to disparage one culture group over another, but to point out that some cultural traits and norms only make sense in a certain place within a particular cultural context. Sometimes its hard to see our own culture until we go somewhere else with a different cultural background.

Questions to Ponder: What is a cultural trait that you realized was distinct only after being in contact with those from places/cultural settings? Why are some traits perceived as strange outside of their cultural context but perfectly normal within them?

"With timely assists from the Spanish-speaking skills of players and executives, the Lakers have cultivated Hispanic support in their community."

Julio Manteiga, associate director of media monitoring and Latin America communications for the NBA, provided ESPN information stating Hispanic fan attendance for Lakers games was 42 percent. In the 2015 U.S. Census, the Hispanic population of Los Angeles County was measured at 48.4 percent. The Lakers have benefited from taking the initiative to make their games accessible to a Latino audience, starting with broadcasting games in Spanish.

"Back in the ’70s, almost a hundred reporters around the country – Washington Post bureau chiefs, rovers, freelancers and me, their desk-bound editor – were trying to get our arms around how North America worked, really. Not how it should work. But how it did work. Forget those nice neat rectangles in the middle of the U.S. Let’s be real: The mountains of western Colorado are totally alien from the wheat fields of eastern Colorado. And Miami is part not of Florida, but its own watery Caribbean realm. And what a terrible idea is 'California.' It behaves as if it covers three warring civilizations. The result was my 1981 book, 'The Nine Nations of North America.' The reader reaction was astonishing. This map – drawn to anticipate the news – revealed something much deeper. It turned out to be a map of culture and values, which have nothing to do with our perversely drawn state and national boundaries."

Seth Dixon's insight:

Question to Ponder: How would you divide up North America? What would be some differences from this map? What reasons do you have for making these different regional groupings? What are the main criteria for what constitutes a region?

The concentration of wealth within U.S. cities is one of the most powerful geographic patterns in North America (and remains of of the key geographic stories of the 2016 presidential election). NYC served as a hub for the import/export of primary economic resources during the 18th and 19th centuries as the Erie Canal opened up the interior of the United States to become part of NYC's hinterland. NYC expanded as a hub for the manufacturing of consumer products and then began to transition to a more tertiary based economy. “There are more than 3,000 counties in the U.S. Of the 75 with the highest incomes, 44 are located in the Northeast, including Maryland and Virginia. The corridor of metropolitan statistical areas that runs from Washington, D.C., through Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston includes 37 of these top-earning counties (where the median family takes home at least $75,000 a year)."

The discovery of a headless corpse in the Netherlands helped Belgium and its bigger Dutch neighbor resolve a property squabble that began in 1961.

In a region that has long known geopolitical and linguistic squabbles, and where Belgium has lived in the shadow of its neighbor, the land swap was anything but inevitable. In 1961, when the Meuse was reconfigured to aid navigation, it had the side effect of pushing three pieces of land onto the wrong side of the river. The uninhabited area subsequently gained a reputation for lawlessness, wild parties and prostitution.

"Providence, once the heart of the New England mafia, was chosen for the first season. The approximately 17 to 20 episodes will follow the patterns of corruption in Rhode Island up through the banking crisis of RISDIC, the impeachment of a Supreme Court justice, and City Hall corruption in Operation Plunder Dome."

Seth Dixon's insight:

This is not just a fascinating local story of my new hometown; this is a riveting portrayal of the urban social geographies of organized crime, corruption, and the cosa nostra. With only three episode to date, they with entertain and inform listeners with delving into the inner working of the mob (and just a heads up--the language will be crass and actual crimes will be discussed--don't say I didn't warn you). To be honest, of course season one of Crimetown dad to been about Providence, and it is all the more compelling knowing the neighborhoods that are being shaped in this historical portrayal of Rhode Island.

"Food insecurity has a high correlation with increased diabetes rates. In Chicago, the death rate from diabetes in a food desert is twice that of areas with access to grocery stores."

Seth Dixon's insight:

Food deserts are places where residents have limited access to healthy food. Here is a great map from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture that shows low-income census tract that are more than one mile from supermarkets and rural areas that are more than 10 miles from the nearest supermarket. Esri has also produced a food desert map that shows where unserved people (farther than 1 mile in urban/10 miles in rural) live in poverty. For a household with a private automobile, distance to a supermarket isn’t that crucial an issue, but without an automobile, this lack of healthy food available becomes a significant challenge for residents that live in this neighborhood.

A federal panel called the 2011 redrawing of Wisconsin Assembly districts an unconstitutional gerrymander, ruling in a case that could go to the Supreme Court.

Seth Dixon's insight:

The redistricting process is far from neutral; to be fair we should remember that gerrymandering is has happened on all ends of the political spectrum, depending on who is charge during the redistricting process. Which map to you think is the best way to divide these districts? What is the fairest way to divide them?

"Why is the NFL in Mexico? A visitor to the capital city can sense right away why the league is so bullish on the country's potential."

The last time the NFL ventured into Mexico was in 2005, when the Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers in Estadio Azteca. Top-level American football is returning to the same venue in Mexico City on Monday night, when the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders will face off in a contest that has been sold out since July.

Just don't assume the 11-year gap is related to a lack of interest. In reality, Mexico is the top international hotbed for American football, with the largest NFL fan base of any country outside the United States. There are more fans of the league in Mexico City than in most actual NFL markets.

But the sport's popularity in Mexico goes well beyond NFL fandom. From youth leagues that are overtaking soccer in popularity in some parts of the country to a new pro league, American football is a major player south of the border. With that in mind, here's a closer look at where the sport stands on every level in Mexico and how fans there consume the game.

"Humans have dreamed about spaceflights forever but only in the second half of the 20th century were developed rockets that were powerful enough to overcome the force of gravity to reach orbital velocities that could open space to human exploration. The awesome poster called Chart of Cosmic Exploration documents every major space mission starting from the Luna 2 in 1959 to the DSCOVR in 2015. The map traces the trajectories of every orbiter, lander, rover, flyby, and impactor which ever left the Earth’s orbit and successfully completed its mission."

This map nicely shows the particular air requirements needed for a tornado to form and why the part of the United States known as Tornado Alley accounts for the majority of the world's tornadoes. This nicely shows how physical geographic factors form a major part of how a region might be defined and conceptualized.

"To design a map of the world is no easy task. Because maps represent the spherical Earth in 2D form, they cannot help but be distorted, which is why Greenland and Antarctica usually look far more gigantic than they really are, while Africa appears vastly smaller than its true size. The AuthaGraph World Map tries to correct these issues, showing the world closer to how it actually is in all its spherical glory."

Seth Dixon's insight:

This just shows how subjective the concept of "accurate" can be. First off, this is a fabulous map that nicely minimizes distortions (distance, direction, area, and shape) of the land on our planet. Any criticism of the map just shows the impossibility of making an accurate 2D map of a 3D Earth, but I still think that there is plenty of room to discuss the flaws/distortions that were chosen instead of others. It is interesting to note that a Japanese contest awarded this map with it's top honor (I doubt a Brazilian organization would feel the same way about this map). This map does make with some traditional cartographic conventions in its representation of Earth.

Questions to Ponder: What are some elements of this map that are different from more traditional maps? This map claims to be more accurate; does that make it more useful?

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